This is a whole new marketing dynamic. Previous years, I parked my bicycle outside

the market area, displayed my bokashi kits and arranged to meet with people later in the week. The inner cynic in me says that officials at YLFMS – who are all great people – let me have a booth to keep me from going there on the days that I’m not inside. I don’t mind at all!

In the past month, I have acquired a tent for my booth, a banner, folding tables, decorative items for displaying my wares, new printed materials, arranged Car Co-op vehicle use etc. The biggest challenge is trying to determine how much stock to bring. I don’t want to run out before the final bell goes. This week, I’m bringing it all!

I already have commitments for orders this Sunday. That’s a nice feeling.

So watch this space for updates. I can’t live blog my first day, but I’ll try to make notes as I go along and post it in the evening along with some pictures.

One more thing: Letting me know in advance that you are coming to purchase my products on the market days would be greatly appreciated. That way, I can hold items aside for you until you arrive.

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If you are in the Vancouver network on Facebook you can join the Farmers Market group page here and their fan page here.

If you want to grow food successfully in containers, nurturing soil life can make a huge difference. Worm compost, for example, is full of microbes and life. Add it to your containers and you will get more vigorous growth, and far fewer pest and disease problems. Discovering this, was the biggest turning point in my growing (more important, even, than self watering containers), transforming sporadic successes into something more consistent.

Why is soil life important?

Healthy organic soil in the natural world supports a web of life including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes as well as larger creatures like worms and slugs. These organisms play a vital role in the life of plants. They break down organic matter to make the nutrients available for plant roots. They condition the soil and create air spaces and tunnels in it – improving aeration and drainage. And they compete with other more harmful organisms in the soil, ones that will damage your plants if left unchecked.

Soil life is complex – so the above is just my attempt to summarise some of the main benefits you can expect when you add life to your containers!

Why do you need to add life to containers?

Most commercial composts that we buy are sterilised and low in microbial life. So is municipal compost (it has to be made at hot temperatures to kill pathogens, killing much of the beneficial life, too). So if you want life in your containers – and to mimic soil in the natural world – you need to add it.

1. Worm compost

2. Homemade compost

3. Leaf mould

4. Manure

5. Bokashi

Bokashi is Japanese method of composting food quickly in a tightly sealed bucket. Benefits of bokashi are that you can add almost any food (even meat), it works quickly, can be done in a very small space, and doesn’t smell (much). The drawbacks are that you need to buy bokashi bran for it to work, and the pickled product is not as versatile as worm compost. But you can add it to the bottom of containers to add both organic matter and microorganisms.

Mix about 10 – 20% into the compost in the bottom third of a container.